The recently concluded IPL tournament provided brands with six weeks to jump on to the IPL bandwagon, forge a link with it and gain lots of leverage from the interest the IPL draws. Pizza Hut’s ‘Meet and Greet Virat Kohli’ contest was one such IPL campaign which ran from April 1st, 2013 to May 26, 2013

Objectives

As a food brand patronized mainly by the youth, Pizza Hut India has worked towards garnering a youthful image for itself. Capitalizing on the IPL frenzy it picked Virat Kohli, the young captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore as the face of its contest. By tying IPL with Pizza Hut, the chain was able to put the spotlight on its pizzas by encouraging people to order a pizza and a Pepsi which was literally their ticket to the contest and meeting Virat.

Execution

The contest was hosted on a dedicated Facebook app. But you didn’t have to simply go the Pizza Hut page on facebook, like it and proceed. To participate you had to order any pizza and Pepsi from Pizza Hut delivery, then visit the LINK to participate subject to T&C.

Participants were required to enter their own details and billing details. Thereafter, all they had to do was to wait for the results and stand a chance to win the contest.

Prizes

10 lucky winners would get a chance to Meet Virat Kohli + Hundreds of other exciting prizes to be Won

Positives

The contest was well timed as it ran parallel to the IPL, a time when people are usually glued to their television sets and are likely to order take outs while they enjoy a snack during the match. It is also a time when families and friends get together to watch a match which is why the likelihood that one home will order more than one pizza and Pepsi at a time is high. As such it was a great strategic move to launch the contest.

Virat Kohli has a huge fan base comprising many young people who are more likely to participate in Facebook contests so the target audience for the contest was well defined. The opportunity to meet Virat took care of the offline aspect as well.

Scope for Improvement

A simple search for the contest on the web did not throw up much beyond the Facebook page and some stray information with terms and conditions on a few sites. The Facebook contest by Pizza Hut lacked adequate social media promotion. It was not integrated with other platforms like Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Even Pizza Hut India’s own Facebook page did not really create a buzz about the contest, a look at its timeline threw up just one update about the contest in recent weeks.

Besides that the offer was valid in select cities at select Pizza Hut Delivery outlets only, thereby restricting its reach.

Conclusion

As a brand working to establish itself as a fun food brand Pizza Hut has always focused on its main offering Pizza, with this contest it included Pepsi in its promotional aspects. While the contest was something different from Pizza Hut’s counterparts, it did not really make waves in the digital space.

All in all, the contest might have helped the brand sell more pizzas and Pepsi but it could have tried a more innovative way to execute the contest. Making purchase a precondition for participation is not the most innovative thing to do.

Mariam Noronha is a teacher with over nine years of teaching experience. She has taught a wide range of management related subjects and has authored and presented papers at national and international seminars and conferences. An avid reader, researcher and writer; she has authored numerous articles in the copy writing, fiction, web writing and travel writing genre. She has authored four e-books on various genres of writing. Mariam currently writes her own business blog,TheOneOfAKindPreneur and provides consultancy to aspiring entrepreneurs with regard to business planning, branding, product development and promotion.